commercial nuclear power plant operating history. On March 28, 1979, a partial meltdown of a reactor at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania resulted in the most serious accident in U.S. At the time, no single federal department was responsible for responding to such an event. Covering land from Yellowknife's Great Slave Lake to northern Alberta and Saskatchewan with scattered debris. On January 24, 1978, COSMOS 954, a soviet nuclear-powered surveillance satellite crashed in the Northwest Territories, Canada. In both instances, the Canadian military helped with cleaning up. On May 23, 1958, a fuel rod rupture in the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor led to a fire and contamination of the NRU building and surrounding area. It was the world's first nuclear reactor accident. On December 12, 1952, the National Research Experimental (NRX) Reactor at Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, Canada, experienced mechanical problems and operator error that led to overheating fuel rods and significant damage to the NRX reactor core. Canada is a signatory to these conventions. This prompted the need for international cooperation, communication and transboundary requirements in national emergency plans.Īfter Chernobyl the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) developed international conventions ( Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency). Radioactive material from the Chernobyl accident was found in neighbouring countries and parts of Western Europe, demonstrating for the first time that nuclear accidents can have international implications. Due to the severity of the accident, 160,000 Ukrainian residents were evacuated and permanently relocated. This was the most severe accident in the history of the nuclear power industry. On April 26, 1986, there was an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine (at the time, a part of the Soviet Union). Data confirmed that the quantities of radioactive materials that reached Canada were very small and did not pose any human or environmental health risks. In order to monitor the potential long-term impact of the event on Canada, the Government of Canada became a partner in the Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) network to monitor radiation levels off the coast of British Columbia. The incremental radiation exposure from the accident was determined to be similar in populations throughout Canada and far less than exposure from natural background radiation. ![]() The results are reported in the Special Environmental Radiation in Canada Report on Fukushima Accident Contaminants and summarised in the Summary Report on Fukushima Contaminants in Canada. The impact on Canada was assessed in detail. ![]() As the lead department of the Federal Nuclear Emergency Plan, Health Canada convened the multi-departmental Technical Assessment Group to provide coordinated situational assessment to the government response.Įxtensive radiological monitoring was conducted in Canada as part of Canada's radiation surveillance programs. In response to the Fukushima Daiichi accident, many Canadian federal departments activated their emergency plans and emergency operations centres. This resulted in the release of radioactive material into the environment, prompting local evacuations and public health and safety measures globally as low levels of radioactive contaminants were detected worldwide. On March 11, 2011, an earthquake caused a tsunami that killed over 20,000 people and triggered a severe nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
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